Juan Adolfo Fernández Saínz

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I went to prison for practicing independent journalism
in Cuba.
As soon as you get there, you must prepare yourself to narrate the horrors of
the hellhole you've ended up in. And Cuban prisons are horrendous. But the
horrors start not one step back in the penal tribunal, not two steps back with
the police chief, but three steps back, with the Cuban penal code, which
reflects the social decomposition of post-Soviet Cuba. The government's legal
response to a wave of robberies (and to a similar wave of political unrest) is
to make sentences more severe. Are they trying to punish the innocent? No, they
want to "save the revolution," and since "the end justifies the means," toughness
is expected from the police and from prosecutors, who are judged on their
ability to quickly resolve cases; and from judges, who grow accustomed to
handing down harsh sentences. In such a way, they get used to tough sentencing
as they continue to lose their humanity.

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New York, August 20, 2010--Today Juan Adolfo Fernández Saínz became the 14th imprisoned Cuban journalist released and flown to Spain, following July talks between the Catholic Church and the government of President Raúl Castro.